Methodological Approaches Assignment (6-7 Pages)

SOCI 4387: Capstone Seminar Spring 2020 Due date: Saturday, 4/11, 11:59 pm 80 points

Methodological Approaches in Sociology

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is for students to identify basic methodological approaches and describe the general role of methods in building sociological knowledge. For this paper, you will identify the methodological approaches used by Clergé for gathering data presented in Callaloo (Chapter 4). There are at least four different methodologies present in this chapter, and your paper should include at least three of them. The appendix (appropriately labeled Digestif) provides a summary of the methodological journey that the author followed in this book, but it is not an exhaustive methodological report.

After identifying the methodologies present in Chapter 4, you will compare them in terms of their reliability and validity (both internal and external), their sampling designs, and their general strengths and limitations as ways to collect data for sociological research. Use your notes from your research methods course, your methods textbook, or go here to access Bhattacherjee’s book on social science research (https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/social-science- research-principles-methods-and-practices). The PDF version of this book is free.

Assignment: Write a professional 6-7 page paper typed and double-spaced. Keep your language formal and avoid contractions. If you work with an open-source word processor, create a PDF file before uploading your file. Remember that I will use this paper to assess your methodological knowledge so I need to see evidence that you know your methods. Do not summarize the different methods, do not invent new methods, do not use Wikipedia. You can use Bhattacherjee’s book or any other book on research methods commonly used in sociological research as a reference to identify which ones Clergé used in Chapter 4, and then discuss them in a critical way.